Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-16


literally covered with streamers and
flags. All her prize bunting
was thrown to the breeze,
and thus bedecked, as she
lay off Santa Fe wharf she was thing
of beauty The sail to National City
was delightful one. The breeze was
just stiff enough to give our yacht a
slight cant and to send her along like
a race horse. The ladies and their es-
corts enjoyed the excursion hugely,
and on their departure were profuse
in praise of the beautiful vessel upon
which they had spent SO pleasant an
HoMEwARD BOUND.
l should not forget that one object
of the trip was to enable our party to
carefully examine the new hotel on
Coronado Beach, most of the gentle
men of our party belonging to syndi-
cate that has purchased what is now
know as the Redondo Beach and the
lands adjacent to and back Of it. They
intend to make very extensive i'm
provements at that point, and build
an important maritime and pleasure
town upon the fine slope in the centre
of the horseshoe which forms Redondo
harbor. Their project includes a
large seaside hotel, and SO as to arm
with a knowledge of all
the latest improvements in that line
which had been added to the Coro-
nado Beach Hotel, they wished to
make a very circumstantial inspection
of that building. They accomplished
their purpose, and we we're, therefore,
ready to return. On the trip
back our party was dim
inished by three gentlemen who
were anxious to get to Los An
geles on pressing business. AS they
belonged to the Sixers, it would be
unkind to intimate that the press of
business arose from any internal pro-
test against the sea route. Far from
it! They left us with many express
ions of regret that circumstances were
such that they could not see the
cruise out. Therefore, let us emo far
ther seek their reasons to disclose :"
but bid them hearty good-by and
return to the "Aggie."
A SPANKING BREEZE.
The next morning found us scudd-
ing before an eleven-knot breeze,
eleaving the waves with our cutwater
and churning out the suds as our lee
ward beam came down on the BIZ
sected pillows. There was a crisp
freshness in the atmosphere which
made one feel as if charged with cleo
tricity. The sky was clear, but here
and there could be seen trail of
clouds, with tails thin and cirrous,
moving along with the velocity of
the upper wind stratum. The
sea was covered with white-caps, and
there was a hardness in the looks of
the weather that betokened a storm.
Away ahead of us could be discerned
the bold outlines of Santa Catalina,
and over our lee bow we could family
see the nebulous configuration of San
Clemente Island. The weather soon
thickened and the breeze was rapidly
increasing to a gale. An examina-
ton of the log showed us that We were
footing it at the rate of twelve knots
an hour. Only the old hard-shell
Four were to be seen above
matches. Below there was sorrow and
trouble. The "Aggie" was going
along beautifully. The wind was on
her quarter and her sails stiffened to
it with starch-like rigidity. The
weather kept on thickening and the
gale increasing. Thirteen knots" )"
was what Captain Yon, the Norwe-
gian in charge, said she was now
making.
Whizz went the wind. and along
went the "Aggie," with her lee rails
under water.
"Let go the gait topsail !" cried
Captain Yon. "And haul in your
flying jib!" he yelled to the men for
ward. Down came the one and in
came the other. Still the "Agge"
scudded like scared wolf, with the
water pouring in like a mill-race
through her lee scuppers. She was
behaving so nicely that the captain
thought we had sufficiently eased her
Of sail.
In an hour we were bearing we'll
down upon the east point of Catalina
Island and heading for what is usually
the windward side of the island, but
which in the present case was the lee
ward side. San Clemente, like long,
colossal hump-backed whale, was in
full view, and soon we were sailing
past the east point of Catalina and un-
der the serrated bluffs, rising sheer
out of the ocean to the height of a
thousand or more feet, and looking for
all the world like sections of monster
cheeses, of antique and mouldy pat
tern, that had been cut off by knife
with blade miles long, in the hands
of gigantic Titans who could play at
pins with rounded hills for balls.
AND NOW COMES CALM,
We had no sooner got abreast of
these carbonated mountain facades
than the wind died away, and we
were left in almost dead calm. Our
headway was slow, but still we were
forging along. The atmosphere clear
ed up as suddenly as it had thickened,
and we had splendid chance to view
the wild but grand scenery of side of
Cdldlllld tlltiu ID AuiCly GCSh w otAoiS
ers. Rising back OF the cleft mouldy
cheeses was the great backbone or
ridge of the island. With the glass
the gorgeousness of the cailons and
the wild picturesqueness OF the peaks
and the great bow-like crown of the
range could be plainly descerned.
Here was seen an undulatlng
bench, narrowing as 1t
the mother mountain, and
finally losing itself in dark gorge,
which seemed like the door to hid
den inferno-the entrance to which
some prehistoric Indian Eneas had
passed to cross the Catalinian Styx
and search for the dear shade of his
lost Palinurus. Indeed the whole
scenery of the windward side OF Cata-
lima island possesses a boldness and
grandeur which is in singular con-
trast with that OF the leward side,
where there is a pastoral and
idyllic repose-a suggestion OF shady
hooks, "vales shut out by Alpine
I. .ll. ,,;,oa o,aA nm, h,a-